After reading article after article that completed dissed the Atkins diet without any actual knowledge of the subject, I finally decided to write into my local paper.

I waited for several agonizing days waiting for the article to appear in the editorial. Finally I was called and was told that due to the article's length, they would have to either cut it down or hold until the monthly health magazine in March.

My response was immediate - hold it until March!

Well, the health magazine came today, and appeared on page 3. This means that it will be the FIRST thing that people see when they open up the health magazine!

After my mother read the article she informed me that it was hydrogenated fats that clog arteries... so now I feel stupid. I was so SURE that hydrogenated fats and saturated fats were the same thing!


Anyway, if you'd like to read my article, here it is:

The Atkins diet is not the evil thing that dieticians, doctors, and folks everywhere try to make it out to be.

I started the Atkins diet around the first of October. I have suffered from low blood-sugar for most of my life, and I can tell you, it's not pleasant. Ever since I started eating this way I never had low blood-sugar again.

Much of the negative information around stems from the fact that many people are ill-informed. Some don't have the whole story, while others have it all wrong to begin with.

It's rare to see an article that does not claim that Atkins discourages fruits, vegetables, and breads and encourages fats and protiens. Although partially true, this type of statement is very misleading.

Ever since going on the Atkins diet, I eat more vegetables than I ever have before. My daily diet includes at LEAST one salad with all the good stuff - tomatoes, radishes, onions, green peppers, sprouts, and more. And even if I don't have salad, you can bet I'm having something else like steamed broccoli or cauliflower. This diet, in fact, encourages eating vegetables!

Instead of eating an apple (which doesn't have many vitamins anyway), I eat high-vitamin raspberries, strawberries, or blackberries. They are much more flavorful and do not cause a hypoglycemic reaction. When the mood for dessert strikes I will sometimes have low-carb ice-cream with strawberries. Nuts, which are high in fiber and minerals, are also eaten frequently.

It is quite true that the Atkins diet discourages bread products, as they are high in carbohydrates and low in almost everything else. If you look at the nutritional information on most grain products, you can see that most of it is really quite low in fiber, as it's all been processed out. Even "whole-wheat" products are sadly lacking in this department. If it weren't for the fact that these products were enriched with vitamins, they would have virtually no food value at all!

The Atkins diet does encourage fats and protiens, and this is often where people really start to point fingers. Fats and cholesterols, we've been told, clog arteries. According to Dr. Atkins' research, it's actually the saturated fats that clog arteries. The fats and cholesterols themselves are quite harmless - and are paying the price for a crime they did not commit!

Many say that the Atkins diet is very restrictive, and can be very difficult if you do not like eggs. I myself cannot stand eggs. At first, it was a challenge learning how to eat differently, but it didn't take long to convert many favorite foods to low-carb. I'm very fond of French toast made with low-carb bread, then topped with berries and cream. Stir fries (no noodles!), ground beef with marinara, and bunless burgers are in my menu. You would not believe how wonderful a hamburger patty fried with mushrooms and onions taste without the bun.

With Atkins, a person does not stay at a super-low carb level forever. Instead, the daily intake of carbohydrates are slowly increased and fats are moderately decreased until the person finds his or her critical carb level. Once the person reaches his or her goal weight, he or she eats just enough carbs to maintain that weight. In the end, a person is not even really "low carbing." "Moderate carbing" would be a more accurate term.

It's also claimed that people on Atkins become ill. What often happens is that, for a few days, a person goes through "carb withdrawl." It's quite similar to nicotene withdrawl, although not as severe. It takes the human body a little time to ajust from getting its energy from mostly carbohydrates to getting its energy from fats and protiens.

Some also say that Atkins causes hair loss. While it is true that the stress of carb withdrawl can cause some hair loss a few months down the road, the increased intake of fats and protiens actually causes hair to grow in thicker and richer than before!

One of the silliest things I've ever heard is that you will put the weight back on after you stop the diet. Well, of course you will. It's also true that you will put the weight back on after quitting any diet!

The difference? I've been on Atkins for over four months, and I feel like I could keep going on this way for the rest of my life.